Church Music: You are Not Going to Like This

“O come, let us sing unto the LORD:
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation” (Psalm 95:1).

“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”
(Ephesians 5:9).

A
Brief History of Music

The power of music cannot be understated. It has been
called the “universal language” by many, because every culture has a musical
style associated with it. Because of the myriad genres associated with a myriad
of cultures, we might call musical preference a “social construction,” in that
it varies based on geographical and temporal conditions.

The Western music scale is chromatic and contains 12
notes that are virtually “equal” in tonal distance from one another, but we
typically use 8 notes per octave depending on the sharps or flats of the scale.
The Chinese use a pentatonic scale that emphasizes only five of the 8 notes. The
Arab tonal system has 24 “equal” tones in one octave.

The point I am making is not that you need to be an
expert on music theory, but so we can understand that not all regions share the
same ideas of pitch or tones. Westerners do not often appreciate Eastern music
because the use of semitones seems dissonant to our fragile ears.

You get the picture. There are dozens of musical
genres. Some differ far more than others, but all are cultural.

The “Power” of
Music

Music is literally in our DNA. Recent studies have been
conducted in which musical notes are assigned to our DNA. The results have been
astounding! They are able to record the music that our DNA produces, and it is
beautiful!

A pastor decided to use various tones, sounds, and rhythms
found throughout the universe
to assemble a song that sounds like a popular contemporary Christian music (CCM)
track.

Music
therapy is a growing field that helps combat negative emotional states, as
well as improving child development and physical rehabilitation.

There is simply no denying that music is intertwined
within us. Music helps soothe us. Music also helps to unite us as we come
together at concerts and churches to engage in collective effervescence.

The Christian
Rock Controversy

Ever since The Crusaders released their first rock album
in 1966, the “Christian rock” controversy has been ongoing in Christian
circles.

The controversy is drawn from the roots of rock music
itself. “Rock ‘n Roll” is a sexual euphemism for intercourse. Thus, the very
description is vile.

It is also highly unfortunate, because rock music
incorporates a massive number of different rhythms that are not necessarily
associated with those that existed when the genre was named.

Any musical similarities between The Beatles and Dream
Theater pretty much stop at instrumentation and using Western scales.

There was also the “backmasking” controversy that erupted
in the 1970s and 80s. Backmasking occurs when a “secret message” can be heard
when playing a record backwards. Famous examples are “Stairway to Heaven” by
Led Zeppelin and “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC.

Some legitimate cases occurred, but many claims are spurious
at best. The power of suggestion provides some explanation for the phenomenon.
I have listened to examples in which I could not really hear anything
nefarious. When someone told me “what was there,” I could hear exactly what
they told me.

I liken it to the “elephant in the cloud” – when someone
points to a cloud and says they see an elephant, your mind begins to also make
out an elephant, even if the shape is ambiguous.

Again, backmasking
did happen on occasion. It is a technique used in advertisements as well. That
is not a valid reason to dismiss an entire genre of music.

There have also been a number of songs that promote drugs,
sex, violence, and other wicked behaviors. Some prominent rock bands are
vehemently anti-Christian.

How, then, could Christians ever use such a musical genre
rooted in such evil, wicked, and vile history to praise the holy Creator of the
universe?

I will come back to that later.

Church Music

Our hymnals are filled with music mostly written in Europe
and the United States after the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s. Although
there are unverified rumors that the hymnists merely changed the lyrics to
popular tavern songs have become mythologized – and I truly doubt that this occurred
– the style of the music used likely did resemble the local custom of the day.

The intention of the music, however, was vastly
different. The lyrical content would have stood out. “A Mighty Fortress is Our
God” is steeped in rich theology and was written by Martin Luther, a man who I
believe was inspired by God to break away from the Catholic Church and bring Christianity
out of the “Dark Ages.”

The longevity of those Reformation era hymns is
astounding. Some pre-date the King James Version of the Bible by nearly a
century, and we all know that the KJV remains the dominant English translation to
this day.

More recently, Southern Christian gospel music has made
inroads. This is the style made famous by quartets back in the early 20th
century, but it is used in even the most traditional, conservative churches. It
mostly features four-part harmonies and lyrics that explicitly praise and
worship Jesus Christ.

Are hymns and gospel
music the only acceptable forms of music in church? If so, why?

Worship
Music

The Bible is clear – Music is essential to worship of God.
Furthermore, He appreciates a variety of instrumentation.

1 Chronicles 13:8 says, “And David and all Israel played before God with all
their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries [a bowed
instrument similar to a violin], and with timbrels [tambourines], and with
cymbals, and with trumpets [likely made of silver – Numbers 10:2].”

Thus, we have a choir with strings, brass, and percussion represented. This
is a far cry from the instrumentation found in most churches today. Churches
seem to vary from a piano to a full rock band with little in between. We all
have voices, but the Bible shows us that God loves a variety of instruments
(even percussion, but don’t tell the Baptists).

However, we know that music is vital to worship (here). David was able to
soothe the evil spirit within Saul using music (1 Sam 16). Trumpets were used
to knock down the walls of Jericho and will be used to signal the Christ’s
return.

Singing hymns on Sunday morning soothes my soul, but I would enjoy having a
wider variety of instrumentation. Christian musicians often seem afraid to play
in church, which has been a common theme almost everywhere I’ve ever attended.

Part of the reason for this, I believe, is cultural.

Instrumentation
vs. Intention

A hymn, by definition, is a song written to honor a deity
or important figure. I am positive that the hymns in Ephesians circa. 70 AD are
not the same as those written by Martin Luther in 1527. The instrumentation,
song structure, and even vocal style changes over 1450 years would be
significant.

This also excludes the various styles of worship music in
other non-Western cultures around the world. It is extremely ethnocentric to believe
that the songs in our church pews are superior to those sung in India, Ghana,
China, Pakistan, and Nepal. Our Western music scale would be as awkward
sounding to some of those cultures as theirs would to our ears?

And what of instrumentation? Not only do different
cultures feature different tonal components, but they have different
instruments used in worship services. Are those used in our culture inherently
more righteous than in others?

I do not believe so.

There is also an interesting problem for those churches
that promote gospel music. On one hand, gospel music uses the same
instrumentation as a typical rock band (guitar, bass, piano, and drums). On the
other hand, preachers almost always use the example of drums as a reason that rock
music is wicked. I have heard pastors say things like, “drums are only used for
war” or “certain rhythms are sexual” (which was the basis for the naming of
Rock ‘n Roll, remember?).

There is validity in these statements. However, we must
look at the intention, not the instrumentation.

Drums CAN be used for war. Drums CAN ALSO be used in a
gospel quartet.

One purpose is wicked. The other is for worship. Can the
same be said for Christian rock music?

Music for Worship
vs. Music for Enjoyment

For a thought experiment, let us drop the label of “Rock ‘n
Roll” or “Rock” from the music and focus on instrumentation and musical theory.

Progressive bands use very similar music theory as
classical music. There are some bands, like the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, who
use “wicked” instruments to play classical music. They use the exact sheet
music, but with modern instruments. Does this make it inherently evil? No.

Gospel music does the same with classic hymns, do they
not?

I see no problem with enjoying Christian music of many genres. I listen to a wide variety of music and understand how to use it as a tool to combat or enhance my emotions.

That being said, I do believe we should keep our daily music separate from our church music (but not necessarily the opposite).

Sound theology is not a requirement for enjoying music, but it is a necessity for good church music.

This is not because I believe there is anything
inherently wrong with CCM or rock music (which makes me a heretic in many
churches), but because of some other concerns:

The songwriters may not be Scripturally
accurate. Just like why I do not support using books other than the Bible for
preaching, it becomes incredibly difficult to vet songwriters. Some of the most
popular CCM writers who have infiltrated our churches include Bethel Music and
Hillsong – both of which are dangerous charismatic cults that embrace New Age
practices in their doctrine. They incorporate those beliefs into their music,
and those lethal beliefs are being sung by congregations across the world.

Incorporating CCM into church worship is
often a symptom of a larger disease. When a traditional church begins to move
away from what they have done prior, it is a sign that they will not stop with
music. I was involved in a traditional Baptist church. They sang hymns, used
the KJV, and were experiencing amazing spiritual growth. They asked me to play
drums, and I agreed. Within three years, they almost entirely abandoned hymns
for CCM (including Bethel and Hillsong) and started using different Bible
translations. They are now far more liberal than they were when I first started
going there, and I had to leave the church because they moved so far from where
they began.

Christians are
supposed to be “peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9) and the local church is our
sanctuary from the world. There should be a completely different environment
inside a building filled with believers. The clothes should be different. The
communication should be different. The music should be different. People should
not be coming to church because it provides the same experience as any other
secular community center, but because it is a respite from the world.

Too
Long, Didn’t Read

For those of you who skip the fluff to get to the
stuff, here you go:

Music is vital to the human experience and can be an
incredible tool for us to use in worship and in our daily lives.

There is nothing inherently wrong with Christian music
of any genre, so long as the intention of the music is to glorify God.

However, church should be a place apart from the world, it is incredibly difficult to assess the spiritual and doctrinal validity of every CCM artist, and the wicked world continues to seep into our church services. Therefore, we would be better off sticking to traditional hymns with traditional instrumentation (piano, guitar, strings, brass, woodwinds) within our worship services.

If you allow gospel tracks with drums, but not live drums, perhaps you should lighten up a little.

Do you disagree? Probably. Traditional conservatives
and modern liberals will likely both reject my take. That is okay. I value
doctrine over preferences, and the Bible is not explicit about musical genre.
We can all believe and worship the same God in different ways.

I work hard to combat my own ethnocentrism, and I hope
you will to.

Feel free to discuss this with me further. I am always up for a conversation.